A supervisor walking a typical contact center floor is generally only able to hear one side of a customer conversation, ambient noise permitting. Additionally, the supervisor doesn't always have immediate access to customer information or current statistics, though the supervisor may be able to see a display of some statistics if collocated with agents on the contact center floor. It is important for the supervisor to monitor the quality of customer service that the agents provide. Sometimes, the supervisor needs to intervene if an agent is having problems, getting angry, providing incorrect information, or failing in some other capacity. Other times, the supervisor needs to assess performance of the agents, including outstanding performance.
A common method for the supervisor to monitor the agent is to physically go to a telephone and connect to a call to participate in call monitoring, recording, and flagging for later review. The method is known as service observing (SO). A typical SO feature allows the supervisor to listen in and possibly participate on calls routed to the agent or group of agents, to a particular agent station, or calls that come into a particular directory number. The service observer may request to observe a particular type or set of calls. It is possible and common to service observe a Vector Directory Number (VDN), where the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) sets up specific routing (e.g., service observing) for all calls that come in to the VDN which may be serviced by more than one agent. The service observer can listen in for a portion of a call or for an entire call.
SO features have some limitations. An effective SO strategy requires knowledge in advance that a call or calls need service observing. The current way to connect to a call via a desk telephone requires that the agent is within close physical proximity to the supervisor, which precludes certain types of monitoring for remote agents and/or by remote supervisors. SO can also be highly stressful for the agent, prone to error, and/or introduce a delayed analysis and response.
SO is a common and useful feature, and most contact centers just live with the limitations. Typically, supervisors are collocated with agents for observation and are on the same server or the same network to make SO as widely available as possible. Certain agents or groups are often designated as a set that can be tagged for monitoring. However, SO is traditionally inflexible, meaning it has to be initiated a certain way from a hardphone, means of performing observations are limited, and there are limits on how many SO sessions can take place simultaneously.